Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve (a) detection and (b) diagnosis of specifically lobular breast cancer.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster so that more patients, including those with lobular breast cancer, survive this horrible set of diseases. There are multiple NHS initiatives and funding streams across the NHS in England that support the early detection of lobular breast cancer, and many organisations across the health service are involved.
The Government recognises the crucial need for research into all forms of cancer to support earlier diagnosis, including for lobular breast cancer. In November 2025, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) issued a highlight notice encouraging applications for new research into lobular breast cancer, to improve the detection, diagnosis, treatment, and long-term surveillance of patients. The NIHR continues to welcome high quality funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including lobular breast cancer.
The Breast Screening Risk Adaptive Imaging for Density trial is looking into the use of supplementary imaging techniques for women within the standard breast screening programme who are found to have radiographically dense breast tissue. The different tests include magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound. The UK National Screening Committee is in contact with the researchers and is reviewing this evidence as it becomes available. It will make recommendations to ministers in light of this.
To raise awareness about early diagnosis of lobular breast cancer, the NHS in England encourages everyone to check their breast regularly for changes or thickened areas of tissue, and to consult their general practitioner straight away if they have any concerns. To increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, including lobular breast cancer, and address barriers to acting on them, the NHS runs Help Us Help You campaigns. These campaigns focus on recognising a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging body awareness, to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers, including breast cancer, at an earlier stage.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of reported threats against Trading Standards officers made by criminal gangs.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Serious and organised crime has a direct and damaging impact on local communities, undermining legitimate businesses, fuelling wider criminality, and eroding public confidence in the safety and vitality of our high streets.
This Government will not tolerate threats against Trading Standards officers.
On 19 May, the Government announced a £30 million crackdown targeting cash intensive business such as barber shops, vape stores, mini-marts and sweet shops operating on our high streets, over three years. As part of this investment:
o Trading Standards will be backed with £6 million in new funding to bolster the response to sham businesses in at-risk local authorities. New officer training will be rolled out to identify suspicious businesses, strengthen business compliance and boost enforcement.
o A new cross government High Street Organised Crime Unit has been established to bring together government departments, policing partners and Trading Standards, to identify what more is needed – from stronger powers to better co-ordination – to stop this criminal activity from happening in the first place. The Unit is reviewing the full range of challenges that local responders face, including Trading Standards, with a view to strengthening the operational and strategic response.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of kinaesthetic learning.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
We support teachers to use evidence-based approaches and their professional judgement to choose the teaching methods that will best support their pupils to learn and progress, including active and hands-on approaches where appropriate.
Work is now underway to deliver a new curriculum and assessment system that is ambitious for every child, rich in knowledge and strong on skills. Programmes of study for each curriculum subject will be refreshed in line with the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s recommendations, and we are working towards a revised national curriculum being published in spring 2027, for first teaching in 2028. There will be opportunity to provide views on the new curriculum content when the department conducts a public consultation on the draft programmes of study later in the year.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of current statistics for stroke treatment in England.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government set an ambition to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by a quarter in the next ten years. To accelerate progress and tackle unwarranted variation across the country, we will publish a new Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework in spring.
The National Health Service is also working to increase the delivery of thrombolysis and thrombectomy rates as a key intervention to support improved patient outcomes.
NHS England is prioritising implementation of the National service model for an integrated community stroke service with delivery of specialist stroke rehabilitation at home and in care homes, as well as improving life after stroke support and six-month follow-up reviews by working closely with the voluntary sector. More information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to increase funding for stroke aftercare.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government set an ambition to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by a quarter in the next ten years. To accelerate progress and tackle unwarranted variation across the country, we will publish a new Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework in spring.
The National Health Service is also working to increase the delivery of thrombolysis and thrombectomy rates as a key intervention to support improved patient outcomes.
NHS England is prioritising implementation of the National service model for an integrated community stroke service with delivery of specialist stroke rehabilitation at home and in care homes, as well as improving life after stroke support and six-month follow-up reviews by working closely with the voluntary sector. More information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve stroke treatment.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government set an ambition to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by a quarter in the next ten years. To accelerate progress and tackle unwarranted variation across the country, we will publish a new Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework in spring.
The National Health Service is also working to increase the delivery of thrombolysis and thrombectomy rates as a key intervention to support improved patient outcomes.
NHS England is prioritising implementation of the National service model for an integrated community stroke service with delivery of specialist stroke rehabilitation at home and in care homes, as well as improving life after stroke support and six-month follow-up reviews by working closely with the voluntary sector. More information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to mitigate the potential impact of the delayed publication of the Defence Investment Plan on small and medium defence manufacturers.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We will publish the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) as soon as we can. We will continue to award contracts to SMEs, but must allow sufficient time to ensure that decisions in the DIP are robust and drive the necessary transformation of our Armed Forces described in the Strategic Defence Review. The DIP is underpinned by the Government’s largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War, with £270 billion being invested in defence in this Parliament alone.
The Defence Office for Small Business Growth, established earlier this year, provides SMEs with a single point of access for advice, support and opportunities in defence, bringing together services from MOD, trade associations and investors. It supports our target to increase MOD spending with SMEs by £2.5 billion by May 2028. The work of the office is already making a difference, helping SMEs engage more effectively and laying strong foundations for future growth.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential economic impact of the M5 Junction 9 and A46 (Ashchurch) Transport Scheme.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The M5 Junction 9 and A46 (Ashchurch) scheme is currently under review as part of the Major Road Network and Large Local Majors programme. A decision on the future of the scheme will be announced by early summer. Until such time, it would not be appropriate to comment on specific schemes.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has her Department made of the potential merits of increasing financial support for parents who home educate.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Parents have a right to home educate and those parents who choose to do so must provide an efficient, suitable full-time education if the child is of compulsory school age. Through the Children Not in School measures of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act, the department will help local authorities to identify all children not in school in their areas, including those not receiving a suitable education or at risk of harm, and to act where this is the case.
When a parent chooses to home educate their child, they take on full responsibility for their education, including associated costs. Therefore, we have not assessed the merits of providing financial support to parents. The measures, when implemented, will introduce a new requirement for local authorities to provide support, in the form of advice and information, to home-educating families in their areas who are registered with them and who request it.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of parents home educating their children.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Parents have a right to home educate and those parents who choose to do so must provide an efficient, suitable full-time education if the child is of compulsory school age. Through the Children Not in School measures of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act, the department will help local authorities to identify all children not in school in their areas, including those not receiving a suitable education or at risk of harm, and to act where this is the case.
When a parent chooses to home educate their child, they take on full responsibility for their education, including associated costs. Therefore, we have not assessed the merits of providing financial support to parents. The measures, when implemented, will introduce a new requirement for local authorities to provide support, in the form of advice and information, to home-educating families in their areas who are registered with them and who request it.